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United States Patent |
5,586,958
|
Little, Sr.
|
December 24, 1996
|
Lower leg exercise device
Abstract
In a preferred embodiment, a lower leg exercise device, including: a base
member; two, elongate, parallel plates attached to rotating apparatus
mounted on the base member; and support apparatus disposed at distal ends
of the plates to accommodate thereon selected weights; such that a person
standing on the plates, with a foot disposed over each of the rotating
apparatus, moves the weights between a first, lowered position and a
second, elevated position by alternatingly flexing and relaxing muscles in
the person's lower leg.
Inventors:
|
Little, Sr.; Oscar L. (P.O. Box 2621, Danbury, CT 06813)
|
Appl. No.:
|
543557 |
Filed:
|
October 16, 1995 |
Current U.S. Class: |
482/79; 482/93 |
Intern'l Class: |
A63B 023/04 |
Field of Search: |
482/79,80,93,97,148,51,70,71
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
3684305 | Aug., 1972 | McDonald et al. | 482/71.
|
3929329 | Dec., 1975 | Rivera | 482/79.
|
4337939 | Jul., 1982 | Hoyle et al. | 482/79.
|
Primary Examiner: Crow; Stephen R.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Crozier; John H.
Parent Case Text
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
The present application is a division of application Ser. No. 08/344,944,
filed Nov. 25, 1994, and titled LOWER LEG EXERCISE DEVICE AND METHOD, now
U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,711, issued Jan. 30, 1996.
Claims
I claim:
1. A lower leg exercise device, comprising:
(a) a base member;
(b) two, elongate, parallel plates attached to rotating means mounted on
said base member;
(c) support means disposed at distal ends of said plates to accommodate
thereon selected weights, said support means comprising posts extending
upwardly from upper surfaces of said plates;
(d) a proximal end of each of said posts is rotatably fixedly attached to a
horizontal shaft which is journaled in a support fitting attached to a
said plate; and
(e) a cylindrical collar is movable between a first, lowered position in
which said collar engages both a lower end of said post and said support
fitting, thus locking said post in a position orthogonal to said plate
when said device is in use, and a second, raised position, permitting said
post to be folded down on said plate for storage or transport when said
device is not in use; such that a person standing on said plates, with a
foot disposed over each of said rotating means, moves said weights between
a first, lowered position and a second, elevated position by alternatingly
flexing and relaxing muscles in the person's lower leg.
2. A lower leg exercise device, as defined in claim 1, further comprising:
two support poles attached to said base member for the manual grasping of
distal ends thereof by a user of said device.
3. A lower leg exercise device, as defined in claim 1, wherein said
rotating means comprises: horizontal shafts journaled, respectively, in
bearing block pairs fixedly attached to said base member.
4. A lower leg exercise device, as defined in claim 2, wherein said support
poles are rotatably foldable against said base member for storage or
transport when said device is not in use.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to exercise devices generally and, more
particularly, but not by way of limitation, to novel lower leg exercise
device and method that are simple and economical.
2. Background Art
Physical exercise has become increasingly popular, as it improves a
person's feelings of general well-being and is even thought to decrease
the incidence of disease and to lengthen a person's life span. Exercising
with weights has been demonstrated to have certain specific benefits such
as increasing a person's blood level of desirable high density
lipoproteins and decreasing osteoporosis-causing loss of calcium in the
bones.
Many exercise weight training devices are relatively expensive and
space-consuming, as well as being difficult to transport easily. This is
particularly true of devices for exercising the lower legs.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide
exercise device and method that are simple and economical.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such exercise device and
method that are particularly useful in exercising the lower legs.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide such exercise device
that is compact and is easily transported and stored.
Other objects of the present invention, as well as particular features,
elements, and advantages thereof, will be elucidated in, or be apparent
from, the following description and the accompanying drawing figures.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention achieves the above objects, among others, by
providing, in a preferred embodiment, a lower leg exercise device,
comprising: a base member; two, elongate, parallel plates attached to
rotating means mounted on said base member; and support means disposed at
distal ends of said plates to accommodate thereon selected weights; such
that a person standing on said plates, with a foot disposed over each of
said rotating means, moves said weights between a first, lowered position
and a second, elevated position by alternatingly flexing and relaxing
muscles in the person's lower leg.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
Understanding of the present invention and the various aspects thereof will
be facilitated by reference to the accompanying drawing figures, submitted
for purposes of illustration only and not intended to define the scope of
the invention, on which:
FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a lower leg exercise device according to the
present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view showing movements of elements of the
exercise device.
FIG. 3 a side elevational view showing a person using the exercise device
in a first position.
FIG. 4 is a side elevational view showing a person using the exercise
device in a second position.
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, side elevational view, partially in cross-section,
showing the mounting of a weight post of the device in an upright
position.
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, side elevational view, partially in cross-section,
showing the weight post of FIG. 5 in a folded position.
FIG. 7 is a top plan view showing the exercise device in a folded state for
storage or transport.
FIG. 8 is a side elevational view showing the exercise device in a folded
state for storage or transport.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Reference should now be made to the drawing figures, on which similar or
identical elements are given consistent identifying numerals throughout
the various figures thereof, and on which parenthetical references to
figure numbers direct the reader to the view(s) on which the element(s)
being described is (are) best seen, although the element(s) may be seen
also on other views.
FIG. 1 illustrates a lower leg exercise device constructed according to the
present invention, generally indicated by the reference numeral 10. Device
10 includes a planar base member 12 which may be placed on a horizontal
surface such as a floor (not shown). Base member 12 may be formed from a
suitable plastic material, about 18 inches long by about 24 inches wide,
and with a handle cutout 14 defined medially along a long edge of the base
member for the convenient carrying of exercise device 10.
Rotatably mounted on base member 12 are two elongate, steel plates 20 and
22 having, respectively, non-skid rubber layers 24 and 26 adhesively
attached to the upper surfaces of the plates. Plates 20 and 22 are fixedly
mounted, respectively, on horizontal shafts 30 and 32 journaled,
respectively, in bearing block pairs 34/36 and 38/40, the bearing blocks
being fixedly attached to base member 12.
Orthogonally mounted, respectively, on the distal ends of plates 20 and 22
are 1-inch diameter, 16-inches long, aluminum weight posts 50 and 52 and
attached to edges of the plates are, respectively, complementary
hook-and-loop fabric pairs 60/62 and 64/66. Telescoping support poles 70
and 72 are rotatably attached, respectively, to mounting blocks 74 and 76,
the mounting blocks being fixedly attached to base member 12.
FIG. 2 illustrates the movement of the moveable elements of exercise device
10 while in use. As is seen on FIG. 2, weight posts 50 and 52 (only the
latter visible on FIG. 2) can accommodate thereon a number of selected
conventional disk-shaped weights, as at 80. The distal ends of plates 20
and 22 (only the latter visible on FIG. 2) are rotatable between a first,
lowered, position (solid lines), with weights 80 supported by base member
12, and a second, elevated position (broken lines), with the weights
elevated from the base member. Similarly, the distal ends of support poles
70 and 72 (only the latter visible on FIG. 2) are selectively rotatable to
forward and rearward positions (broken lines) from upright positions
(solid lines). A rubber bumper 108 is secured to the upper surface of
plate, the rubber bumper being provided to engage base member the distal
end of plate 22 to cushion the plate when weights 80 are moved to the
first, lowered position.
FIG. 3 illustrates exercise device 10 being used by a person 90. It will be
understood that only the elements visible on FIG. 2 are also visible on
FIG. 3, although the other moving elements of exercise device 10 are
simultaneously used in the same manner as the elements visible on FIG. 3.
Person 90 stands on plate 12 with the person's right foot positioned over
shaft 32, and with the person's right hand grasping the distal end of
support pole 72, although use of the latter is optional. Then, person 90
alternatingly flexes and relaxes the person's muscles in the anterior
portions of the person's lower legs to move, respectively, weights 80
between the first, lowered position (FIG. 2, solid lines) and the second,
elevated position shown on FIG. 3. Velcro strap 66 may be used when the
force to elevate weights 80 so requires to hold the front portion of the
foot against plate 22. In addition to providing more or less weight, the
amount of force required to elevate weights 80 to the second, elevated
position may be selectively increased or decreased somewhat by person 90
moving, respectively, the person's feet closer to or farther away from the
weights.
FIG. 4 illustrates person 90 using device 10 to exercise the posterior
muscles of the lower leg. Here, rather than facing weights 80, person 90
is facing away from the weights. In a similar manner as described with
reference to FIG. 3, alternatingly flexing and relaxing the posterior
muscles of the lower legs will rotate, respectively, weights 80 between
the first, lowered position (FIG. 2, solid lines) and the second, elevated
position shown on FIG. 4. The force required to elevate weights 80 to the
second, elevated position may also be selectively increased or decreased
somewhat by person 90 moving, respectively, the person's feet closer to or
farther away from the weights.
FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate, with reference to weight post 52, the means by
which weight posts 50 and 52 are mounted to the distal ends of plates 20
and 22. the proximal end of weight post 52 is rotatably fixedly attached
to a horizontal shaft 100 which is journaled in a support fitting 102
fixedly attached to plate 22 by means of a threaded shaft 104 and a nut
106. A cylindrical collar 120 is movable between a first, lowered position
(FIG. 5) in which the collar engages both the lower end of weight post 52
and support fitting 102, thus locking the weight post in a position
orthogonal to plate 22, and a second, raised position (FIG. 6), permitting
the weight post to be folded down on plate 22.
FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate device 10 configured for storage or transport.
Here, weights 80 (FIG. 2) have been removed and weight posts 50 and 52
folded, respectively, against plates 20 and 22. Support poles 70 and 72
have been telescoped to their shortest positions and folded against base
member 12. So configured, device 10 is compact, relatively light, and
easily stored or transported.
Device 10 can be economically constructed using conventional techniques and
construction materials not noted above may be any suitable ones.
It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those
elucidated in, or made apparent from, the preceding description, are
efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above
construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is
intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown on
the accompanying drawing figures shall be interpreted as illustrative only
and not in a limiting sense.
It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover
all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described
and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of
language, might be said to fall therebetween.
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